ISLAMABAD: A training camp for the national hockey team will start on Thursday at the Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium to prepare for the upcoming Sultan Azlan Shah Cup which is scheduled to take place in the Malaysian city of Ipoh from May 24 to June 3.

The players started assembling in the capital on Wednesday for the camp which will also serve as the second phase of training for the 2012 Olympics.

Azlan Shah Cup will be played on a blue and pink pitch which will also be used at the London Games. Pakistan will take on Great Britain (world No 4), South Korea, New Zealand (7th), Argentina, (9th), India (10th) and hosts Malaysia (13th) in the Azlan Shah Cup.

Soon after the Ipoh event, the Pakistan hockey team will be travelling to England to ‘fine tune’ their preparations for the Olympic Games.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) announced that it will move base to the Cannock Hockey Club, at Chase Park, in the last phase of its training to iron out their weaknesses prior to the Games.

Pakistan team played a three-match series against England on Cannock’s pitches near the town of Hatherton back in 2009. The club boasts one of the top facilities in England.—APP